Home prices in lower Fairfield County dropped by the fourth sharpest margin of any region in the nation during the third quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The price of the median home sold in lower Fairfield County was $389,000, down 7.7 percent from the third quarter of 2014 according to NAR, a decline topped only by Cumberland, Md. at 11.6 percent, Decatur, Ala. at 9.9 percent and Springfield, Ill. at 8.5 percent. That compared to a 3.5 percent increase in the Northeast as a whole and a 5.5 percent gain for the median U.S. home sold.

The Tampa, Fla. area led the nation with a 20.7 percent increase in the price of the median home sold in the third quarter, with Manchester, N.H. leading the Northeast with a 9 percent rise and New Haven faring best of four Connecticut metropolitan areas included in the study with a 0.4 percent decline.